


from afar

by weirdbasement



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: M/M, Prideshipping, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-14 19:34:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15395883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weirdbasement/pseuds/weirdbasement
Summary: Atem is in the afterlife, and Kaiba gets his duel. But what comes next?Or, how to make it work when the boy you're obsessed with is in the Egyptian afterlife.





	1. it must be fate

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to my boyfriend, dylan, who is the yugioh expert. without his constant feedback this fic would not exist.

Kaiba sucked in a breath. The Pharaoh, every inch of him golden in the sunlight. It was nearly blinding. He was finally here. Finally. 

Kaiba felt those violet eyes burning him up like the sun in the sky above. He expected rage. More than that, he desired it. He wanted to kindle the flame that would light the fireworks. 

"Miss me?"

What he got, instead, was a smile. There wasn't fire, but there was warmth. 

"I did."

Kaiba frowned. He didn't like it when things didn't go as expected. Even in death, Atem found little ways of tripping him up. 

Atem slowly descended the steps in front of the throne. 

"You shouldn't be here." 

"Yeah? Well neither should you." _You belong in Domino. With me._ He couldn't say. Wouldn't say. "Do you know how long it took me to get here? The resources required?"

Atem simply chuckled. Kaiba gritted his teeth. 

"It figures. You'd never let me rest." 

"We still have a score to settle."

Atem was on the same level as Kaiba now, looking up at him. A part of Kaiba reveled in the fact that he was still taller. 

"I don't have my deck, or a duel disk--"

"Already taken care of." Kaiba held up a duel disk, with a deck of cards resting snugly inside. 

Atem blinked. "...I suppose if you're going to travel to the afterlife to duel, you may as well come prepared." 

Kaiba held out the duel disk. Atem walked forward to take it. Kaiba could smell the soap and perfume on his skin. It made him dizzy. 

Once Atem had attached the device to his arm, he began looking through the deck. Kaiba watched his fingers.

"...You were thorough."

He smirked. "Of course I was." 

They shuffled their cards and cut each other's decks.

Kaiba felt a familiar rush, a quickened heartbeat, as Atem looked up at him. Those eyes. His skin prickled. 

This is what he'd been waiting for. 

\---

Kaiba had used Ancient Rules to call upon his last Blue Eyes White Dragon. This was it. they were both at 300 lifepoints. Atem had only his Dark Magician and a facedown on the field. Kaiba's heart was in his throat.

"Attack, Blue Eyes!" 

"Not so fast!" Atem pointed as his facedown flipped up and revealed itself. "I activate the spell card, Thousand Knives!"

Kaiba's eyes widened as the knives surrounded the Pharaoh, just before launching themselves at his final Blue Eyes.

"It's over, Kaiba. Dark Magician, Dark Magic attack!" 

Kaiba fell to his knees as the lifepoint counter dropped to zero. He had spent so long preparing for this, only to lose once more. The adrenaline faded. All that was left was an emptiness that threatened to devour him. 

The holograms faded into the air. 

Atem knelt in front of Kaiba, reaching a hand out to touch his shoulder. "You can't stay here." He said softly. 

A pause.

"I know." 

Atem turned to walk away. Kaiba grabbed his wrist. Startled, Atem stared at Kaiba, who refused to make eye contact.

"...Come back with me."

"I can't."

Kaiba finally looked up at him, his grip tightening. 

"I have the resources." 

Atem remained patient, gently pulling his hand away.

"This is where I belong." 

Kaiba struggled to get to his feet. He could feel his body starting to fade, and Atem must have noticed. "You don't have much longer in this world." 

"Shut up." But something inside Kaiba conceded. He had a corporation to run, and he'd be damned if he let it all end here in what he perceived to be a wasteland. He turned to head out of the throne room.

"Believe me, Pharaoh. I will drag you back with me if I have to."

A laugh, light and airy. Kaiba swallowed.

"I would like to see you try, Kaiba."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm aware thousand knives is not a quickplay card (i play a lot of duel links) but since they use all spellcards as quickplay cards in the show i thought it would be appropriate.
> 
> i also wanted the thousand knives combo to be a callback to the movie when the AI atem used it against kaiba, only this time, kaiba wasn't ready.


	2. a crown of wires

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dedicated to my boyfriend, dylan, who is the yugioh expert. without his constant feedback this fic would not exist.

He already had the AI. The deck, the strategies, the perfectly coiffed hair. Now it was a matter of perfecting the remote control capability.

"Hey look at me! I'm the Pharaoh! Heart of the cards! Friendship!" The AI Atem pointed for dramatic effect. "Dark magic attack!" 

"Mokuba, stop playing with it."

A laugh came from behind the doors. "Sorry, bro. Couldn't resist." The doors parted for Mokuba as he entered the testing room. "I think we've nearly got it." 

"Is it simple enough for him to operate? I don't want to go through all this trouble only to have him screw it up with his technological deficiency." 

"I thought it was pretty easy." Mokuba said, unclasping the wire-covered headband and setting it on the table in front of his brother. "You just flip a switch. And it's solar powered, so he doesn't have to worry about charging it."

"Perfect. I don't think they have many outlets in the ancient Egyptian afterlife." 

Mokuba sat on a stool beside Kaiba, swiveling to rest his elbow on the table and cup his cheek in his palm. He worried about his brother's obsession. When Kaiba left to go to the afterlife, Mokuba was terrified he wouldn't be coming back. That he'd have to run the company alone. That he'd finally completely lost his brother to the Pharaoh. 

But if he was being honest, his brother had been lost for a while. 

"When are you going back?"

"Tonight."

"Tonight?!" Mokuba straightened up. "We still have so many more tests we need to run before--"

"It's ready." Kaiba interrupted. "And I refuse to wait any longer."

"But you've already had your duel with him! And you lost--!"

"That's enough!" Kaiba slammed his hand on the table, causing Mokuba to jolt in his seat. 

Mokuba hated when Kaiba yelled at him. It took everything he had not to start blubbering like a baby in front of his brother. 

"...I'm sorry, Mokuba, but I need him here." 

"It's okay, Seto. ...I understand."

He didn't.

\---

Kaiba ascended the steps to the throne room for the second time. The sound of his heels against the tile floor was lofty in the open air.

"Kaiba."

"Pharaoh."

The guards looked to their leader, who held up a hand, signaling them that they had no need to worry. 

"I would normally tell you that you shouldn't be here, but I know the laws of nature don't matter to you."

"I can make nature bend to my will if I so choose, Pharaoh." 

Atem leaned back in his throne as Kaiba drew closer. "...You don't have your duel disk."

"I have something to replace that crown of yours."

Kaiba nearly chuckled at the way Atem reflexively gripped his circlet. "Kaiba...if this is about getting me to leave--"

"I get it. Just listen." Kaiba held out the headband to Atem. "This is a specially designed remote AI controller."

Atem took the device, holding it up curiously in front of his face. He looked lost.

"...That means when you put it on, you'll be controlling a hologram in another location." 

"A hologram of what, exactly?"

"You. Duh."

"Hm." Atem reacted surprisingly calmly to the fact that Kaiba had made an extremely detailed AI from his image. "Kaiba, this is nice and all, but I belong in this world. And as much as I miss all my friends, I can't use this. It's not the way it's supposed to be."

"You think I care about the way it's 'supposed to be'?"

Atem's eyes narrowed. "I refuse to be trapped in another vessel for god knows how long." 

Kaiba groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "You wouldn't be _trapped_ anywhere! It's simply a way to communicate through an AI. You'd still be right here in this shithole you call an afterlife." 

"This is my home, Kaiba!" 

"That's not the point!" _Why was he so thick-skulled? What was so great about this place anyway? Why wouldn't he want to return to the 21st century?_

_Why wasn't he enough?_

He thought of that girl, Mana, and decided he didn't want to know the answer to that one.

"...Use it. Or don't. I don't care." Kaiba turned to leave.

"I thought you were going to drag me back if you had to." Though he wasn't looking at him, Kaiba could hear the smirk in the Pharaoh's voice. 

"You're just too dense."

\---

Kaiba was hunched over the table inside the testing room, drumming his fingers. It'd be 6 hours since he'd gotten back from his visit with Atem and still the AI had not been activated. To say he was getting impatient would be an understatement. He'd been impatient 5 minutes after he got back. Now he was desperate. _Why hadn't he activated it?_

The doors to the testing room slid open. 

"I thought you'd be here." Mokuba was rubbing his eyes as he walked through the double doors. "It's, like, 2 in the morning." 

"I'll be in bed in a minute."

"You're not seriously waiting for him, are you?"

Kaiba grunted.

"Seto..." Mokuba rested a hand on his brother's back. He got so little sleep as it is. 

"If he doesn't show up in the next half hour, I'll go to bed." 

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Pinkie promise?"

Kaiba swiveled around in the stool to face his brother, holding out his pinkie with a smile on his face. Mokuba noticed the dark circles under his eyes. 

"Pinkie promise." They joined pinkies, and Mokuba felt a little better. 

"Mm'kay." Mokuba said through a yawn. "I'm gonna go back to sleep." 

"All right." Kaiba gave him another tired smile as he walked back through the doors, quickly fading as they slammed shut. 

Kaiba groaned, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. Mokuba had been right; they already had their duel. Why was he so desperate to see him again? He decided he'd blame it on needing to get use out of the AI he worked so hard to construct. No part of him wanted to be introspective at 2 in the morning, especially when the realizations might not be so pleasant. 

All he knew is that he ached to see those fiery eyes again. 

2:23 AM rolled around, and still no sign of the Pharaoh. _Maybe I should have given him a cell phone. The afterlife probably has good reception, right?_

Kaiba crossed his arms over the table and rested his head. He was struggling to keep his eyes open, his mind drifting further and further. 

"...Kaiba?"

That voice, he swore he recognized it.

"Mnm?" He managed. 

"Sorry, I-- well, I didn't really notice the time."

"S'okay."

"I'll be going now."

_No._

"Stay."

"...All right."

_Good..._

Kaiba finally faded, his breathing slow and steady. The AI draped his jacket over Kaiba's shoulders, knowing it wouldn't keep him warm, but somehow he looked more comfortable this way.


	3. the depth of obsession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dedicated to my boyfriend, dylan, who is the yugioh expert. without his constant feedback this fic would not exist.

Kaiba's eyes opened slowly, the world beginning to come into focus. The gray walls of the testing room, the hard table underneath his arms, the soreness in his neck. He tried to recall when he fell asleep last night. He remembered a dreamlike voice, familiar and comforting. 

"Strange..." Kaiba mumbled, rubbing his aching neck. 

"What is?" 

Kaiba nearly jumped out of his skin. He swiveled around to face the AI. 

"Jesus Christ." Kaiba clutched his chest. "How long have you been there?"

"A while." Atem was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, leg bent. "I left shortly after you fell asleep, then came back to check on you." 

Kaiba scowled. _He was here?!_

"I don't need to be watched over like a child." 

Atem quirked a brow. "You passed out on a table."

Ignoring him, Kaiba turned back around, stacking some papers on the table together to busy his hands. "What took you so long?"

"I...I wasn't sure if this was what I wanted. My plan was to cut all ties for good."

Kaiba paused, the shuffling of papers ceased. "...What made you change your mind?"

"If I'm completely honest, Kaiba..." Atem's voice was raw, truly honest. "I need you." 

Kaiba scoffed. "What are you, in love with me?"

"You laugh, but I don't want to stagnate, I want to be pushed forward to be my best self. You--" Kaiba could hear the static as Atem stumbled, correcting himself. " _Dueling_ you gives me a rush...to which nothing else compares. I don't want to lose that feeling." Atem walked forward, turning to face Kaiba. The AI managed to capture the fiery passion of the Pharaoh's eyes, something Kaiba programmed with excruciating detail. "I know you know what I'm talking about. Why else would you go to such lengths to bring me here?"

Kaiba swallowed. He knew the rush, the buzz, the _passion_ he felt dueling Atem, and he craved it. Every defeat burned him a little more, ate him up inside. It became a clawing need, to beat him, to win. He understood it in his very core. 

However. 

Something gnawed at him, something that wasn't satisfied with the answer Atem was giving him. 

"I'm not some dueling monkey. If you want, I can get Wheeler over here and you can beat the crap out of him to get your kicks." 

Atem's face hardened. "What was the point of bringing me here, if not to continue to duel you? That's what you're so obsessed with, right? Forgive me, I'm just not sure what you want from me." 

For once, Kaiba had trouble finding words. Of course he wanted to duel Atem, he needed that rush. And a part of him was thrilled that the feeling was mutual. But...

"Holy shit!"

Kaiba was startled for the second time that day. He was so lost in thought he didn't hear the doors open. "You actually got him to do it!" 

Mokuba ran to the AI, shoving his hand in Atem's stomach. "Haha, can you feel that?"

Atem made a face. "That feels weird." 

"Sorry," He laughed. "just curious." He plopped himself on the stool next to his brother, elbowing him in the side. "You didn't keep your pinkie promise last night!" 

"Sorry, Mokuba," Kaiba noticed Atem shrink back to the corner of the room. "I lost track of time."

"You still broke a promise!" There was a little bit of sadness in Mokuba's face, his concern slipping through. "You never break promises."

"You're right." Kaiba sighed. "I don't. Tell you what, let's go to Kaibaland this weekend." 

All traces of sadness vanished in Mokuba's face at the mention of Kaibaland. "Yes! Just the two of us!" 

Kaiba smiled, a soft smile, something reserved only for Mokuba. "Just the two of us."

Mokuba wrapped his arms around his brother's torso.

Kaiba patted Mokuba's head, and noticed the Pharaoh was no where to be seen.


	4. a ride you can't get off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dedicated to my boyfriend, dylan, who is the yugioh expert. without his constant feedback this fic would not exist.

He was proud of Kaibaland. State of the art rides, food from popular vendors, and of course, the dueling arena. It was the most fun anyone could have at a theme park. Despite all this, it was Mokuba's excited expression that satisfied Kaiba. Their dream had finally come into fruition. 

Kaiba didn't realize how much he needed fresh air. His head felt clear, and as he watched Mokuba happily hop off a roller coaster car, his heart felt full. 

"I think that one might be the best one in the park." 

"The Dragon's Den, huh?" 

"It has THREE loops. Most of the other rides only have two." 

"Is that something we should fix?" Kaiba asked, only half joking. 

"Nah, the other ones have stuff to offer too. Like how White Lightening goes a lot faster. But, speed isn't everything." Mokuba nodded solemnly, sounding wise beyond his years. "The secret's in the loops." 

Kaiba tried to suppress his chuckle. "Truly an expert."

"'Dis cotton candy is da bomb!" 

That voice. Easily recognizable and just as grating to Kaiba's ears. Mokuba waved them down. "Hey guys!"

There was the mutt, of course. The girl, Joey's playmate, and Yugi, the runt of the group. Kaiba sighed as they all ran over to greet the brothers. 

"Ayy, look who it is!" 

"I was wondering if we'd run into you guys here." Téa said as she smiled down at Mokuba. Yugi gave a shy wave. 

Today was Mokuba's day, and if that meant putting up with these dorks, then Kaiba would do it. 

Joey tore off a piece of his cotton candy and stuffed it in his mouth. "Ya really got some good food here, Kaiba." 

_Is food all this idiot thinks about?_

"I know." Kaiba responded, flatly.

"The duel arena is really top notch too." Yugi added. "I like it a lot better now that we're not trapped in it..." 

Kaiba's patience was wearing thinner by the second. "It's too bad you don't have your Pharaoh to get you out of those situations anymore." He sneered. 

The group went quiet at the mention of Atem. 

"Why you little--" Joey spoke up, grabbing Kaiba's over sized collar and pulling him down. "Ya don't think Yugi can stand on his own?! He could probably kick your ass from here to next week! And then some!" 

Kaiba simply laughed. 

"Joey." Yugi sighed. "Ignore him. Let's just go, okay?"

Tristan patted Joey's arm, a sign that it was time to drop it. Joey loosened his grip on Kaiba. "Fine." 

Kaiba straightened out his collar. "You're nothing without him. Remember that." 

It was then that Mokuba, looking uncomfortable, tugged at his brother's sleeve. "Hey bro, couldn't we bring that Pharaoh here? With the AI?" 

Joey started to laugh. "Wait, wait. Hold up. You built a robot of the Pharaoh?" He nudged Tristan with his elbow. "Get a load'a this guy. And you said Yugi couldn't be without him." 

Kaiba gritted his teeth. He would _not_ have his hard work insulted by these buffoons. "It's not a 'robot.' It's really him. Controlled by a remote AI." 

The laughter died down. Tristan, Téa, and Joey all turned to Yugi. 

His face was unreadable. 

"Kaiba..." Yugi started. 

"Don't." Kaiba growled. "Don't lecture me. I don't want to hear it."

"But he's gone, Kaiba!" Yugi was exasperated. "He's gone! And yet you keep toying with his life when he's finally at peace! You think I've--" He gestured to his friends. "-- _we've_ had an easy time letting him go?!"

People walking around them were starting to stare. Kaiba felt their eyes on the back of his neck. "Yugi--"

"Just stop." The desperation was now gone from his voice, and what was left was raw disappointment. "Please. Just stop." 

Yugi turned to walk away, with Joey and Tristan in tow. 

Téa gave Kaiba a sympathetic look before following the rest of her friends.


End file.
